Happy Birthday week Keaton!

Since my last video debut,

the family has decided that we could put music to this stuff and call it MTV!  

Well, we did play some music, 

but all it did was remind me that I'm a super white girl who has no rhythm.  

Good grief!

Hi Keaton!

Kacey and I were feeling super silly tonight.  And we've been working on getting videos together for Keaton.  Well, we thought that maybe ... just maybe ... you'd like to take a gander.  

Oh, ooops.  That was a still shot.  Let's try again!

AAAAAND ... ACTION!

AAAAAAND ... a little more. 

Feel free to move along and do something more worthwhile. 

I promise we will not be offended!

CUT!

What in the blazes is going on in Arizona?

This summer has been a doozie for forest fires in our area.  Over 800 square miles charred in the Wallow Fire alone.  Luckily this year hasn't evacuated my parents ... yet!

Last week, a power transformer exploded and left us without any power for a few hours ... yep ... it was about 114 degrees that day.  Of course Garrison and his friends found a ride so that they could look up close and personal at that power plant disaster.  Luckily, my husband is part Macgyver and he just pulled some wires out of somewhere and cut them up and attached them somehow to something, and put a plug on something else, and hooked that something up to the house, and turned something on .... and we were one of the few in town with power for awhile.  My hero. 

But yesterday, yesterday is the one that will stay with me.  Because yesterday, a haboob hit my hometown.  Yep.  Little ole' Mesa had a haboob.  Now a haboob is a really big deal.  Just look at this video!

The Phoenix Haboob of July 5th, 2011 from Mike Olbinski on Vimeo.

But let's face it.  It's not the dust that we're all thinking about.  It's not even that eerie looking monstrosity of a cloud.  It's the name.  Seriously?  Haboob?  Who named this big ball of dust anyway?  Well if you didn't already know ... it's actually Arabic.

According to Wikipedia:  

A haboob (Arabic هبوب) is a type of intense sandstorm commonly observed in arid regions throughout the world. They have been observed in the Sahara desert (typically Sudan), as well as across the Arabian Peninsula, throughout Kuwait, and in the most arid regions of Iraq.^[1] African haboobs result from the northward summer shift of the inter-tropical front into North Africa, bringing moisture from the Gulf of Guinea. Haboob winds in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and Kuwait are frequently created by the collapse of a thunderstorm. The arid and semiarid regions of North America – in fact any dryland region – may experience haboobs. In the USA, they are frequently observed in the deserts of Arizona, including Yuma and Phoenix^[2][3], as well as New Mexico and Texas ^[4]. During thunderstorm formation, winds move in a direction opposite to the storm's travel, and they will move from all directions into the thunderstorm. When the storm collapses and begins to release precipitation, wind directions reverse, gusting outward from the storm and generally gusting the strongest in the direction of the storm's travel.^[5][6][7]

When this downdraft, or "downburst", reaches the ground, dry, loose sand from the desert settings is essentially blown up, creating a wall of sediment preceding the storm cloud. This wall of sand can be up to 100 km (60 miles) wide and several kilometers in elevation. At their strongest, haboob winds can travel at 35-50 km/h (20-30 mph), and they may approach with little to no warning. Often rain is not seen at the ground level as it evaporates in the hot, dry air (a phenomenon known as virga), though on occasion when the rain does persist, the precipitation can contain a considerable quantity of dust (severe cases called "mud storms"). Eye and respiratory system protection are advisable for anyone who must be outside during a haboob -- moving to a place of shelter is highly desirable during a strong event.

Across North Africa and the Near East, there are many regional names for this unique sandstorm. The word haboob comes from the Arabic word هبوب "strong wind or 'phenomenon'."

All this being said ... it still cracks me up.  I'm way too immature for such weather terminology.  And I think that the weathermen saying the word got me going even more!  Standing there in their suit coats acting all serious like about the big haboob that was headed our way.  I've been giggling all day long just thinking of the word.  I even questioned it really being a word! 

Haboob. 

Thanks for stopping by and giving me a chuckle as I look at the mess you left behind.

You big haboob.

Dirty little rat -

Jake has a new job.  Which means that Jake has new money.  The rule WAS that he had to put half into savings, pay his tithing, and the rest was his to spend.

Jake likes to spend.

Saturday, I got a phone call that went something like this.

Jake:  "Mom will you take me to Petco to buy a fish?"

Me:  "No.  We don't want anymore indoor pets."  

So he came home with a hamster.  

I began to raise my voice ... lecture ... and throw a little fit.

Jake:  "But you said that I couldn't get a fish"

Me:  "No.  I said that we don't want anymore indoor pets."

I continued to rant and rave.

Not only did he purchase a hamster, but he purchased the whole castle and moat that is apparently required to raise the hamster into a fine young rat.  He bought the best food, the best fluffy white stuff that lines the bottom of the castle and the best exercise ball that any creature would desire.  He spent every last penny of his earnings and all of it was non-refundable.

I continued to rant and rave.

About 20 minutes after arriving home with his new little friend and introducing him to his new surroundings and naming him Wall-E,  I heard this ...

Jake:   "No.  Please don't die.  Please don't die.  Please don't die."  Tap, tap, tapping on the castle wall.  Gosh he's dead."

Me:  Feeling a little guilty about the ranting and raving and possible verbal abuse to the rodent ... we hopped in the truck and drove to get a replacement. 

New rule.  No more purchases without some serious consent from a parent.

The new little guy is named Wall-E 2.0.

We're giving it a trial run.

Jake is grounded.

Creative genius I tell you!

The other day, I was going through photos, and I found this little number ...

This picture is not only hilarious, but it also tugs on my heart strings ... yes, I have them.  This was 1975.  I had just lost my Mom, my Dad had just lost his high school sweetheart, and there we were just trying to hang on for dear life.  We were living with my Grandma and the big Daddy-Daughter Date came up.  What a trooper my Dad was ... and what a great sport to wear this homemade mess.  What?  You didn't realize that his outfit was homemade?  Stop it! 

Since this picture defined what a great Dad I have, I decided that I would like to use it for Father's Day.  So, of course, I called up Miss Kacey.  Because she's a creative genius.  I told her that I'd like to make a card out of this picture.  She giggled.  Five minutes later ... she emailed me this masterpiece!  In one hour, it was waiting for me at the local Walmart to pick up and mail to Overgaard, AZ.

He loved it.

I don't know how she does it, but she does it good.  How did she get that paperclip on the picture?  How did she come up with that cute notebook paper background?  How did she know how to put it all together to create exactly what I wanted?  I don't know.  

On Mother's Day, I wanted my little Nursery kids to be able to give their Momma's something at church.  So I sent her a sweet little picture, and she turned it into a gift.  

Look at this adorable graduation announcement ... front & back ~

And these are my super cute nephews & niece in the form of a perfect Christmas card.  

So my point is ... she's a genius.  And if you are like me, and you have no idea how to participate in this digital age that we're in ... you should contact Kacey.  She's good.  She's real good.  Amen.

Happy Birthday Matthew Parry!

 

This is so weird. 

How can you be 24 when I'm only 29?  

Happy Birthday my boy.

They walked, and walked, aaaaaand walked.

The Trek was a huge success from the Shaker point of view.  My instincts were correct ... my boys are part pioneer.  They loved every minute of it and Gary was ready to go again as soon as their journey was over.

Look at these cute pictures! 
Click on them to enlarge ... and see my boys right up front.

Jake was assigned to the Free Family with Ma & Pa Free.

Garrison was assigned to the Harvey Family with Ma & Pa Harvey.

And Gary (who is hiding in the back) was assigned to the Hutchinson Family.

If we are ever counseled to walk across the plains again ... I will have no problem sending my boys men.  They will most likely have to send for me later ... by airplane ... accompanied by a soft pillow, a blanket and plenty of carbohydrates mingled with some protein.  Amen.